PILOT PROJECTS PROGRAM: PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT The Pilot Projects Program, led by the Center Director, is an integral part of the Center's mission to more fully characterize environmental health hazards, understand the basis of personal vulnerability, and translate research into preventive action to reduce the burden of environmentally related diseases. The Pilot Projects Program acts as a springboard for emerging environmental health sciences research questions, an incubator for junior investigators' careers, and an opening for establishing new multidisciplinary collaborations in environmental health research by funding one-year projects up to $50,000. We have an established administrative process responsible for announcing the program, conducting review, and making funding decisions that will continue to function in this manner for the proposed renewal period. Throughout the current cycle, the Pilot Projects Program has been extremely successful at supporting the development of new research areas and directions, providing preliminary data to support larger grant applications, and encouraging new collaborations in environmental health research. In the renewal period, we plan to build on the Pilot Projects Program's success at attracting exemplary applications from current Center members and individuals new to environmental health sciences, as well as nurturing the careers of the most promising early-stage environmental health sciences investigators in Southern California. .